Talia's vision was blurry, and she struggled to stay conscious as the voices mixed like they came from a great distance with a slight echo.
"Don't kill her!"
"I was just teaching her a lesson."
"Give me something to tie her up!"
Talia felt a rough palm gliding up her thigh, squeezing occasionally. She tried to wiggle away, but someone was holding her arms together in a vice-grip, while another one was sitting on her legs, just above knee level. Based on the sickening chuckle, whoever was molesting her, was enjoying her futile struggle.
"We don't have time to fool around."
The palm was gone.
"Keep your voice down and hurry up. We need to leave quickly…"
"Do you think Alpha Damon will pay for her?"
"Even if he doesn't, she definitely knows something useful."
"Will she talk?"
"They always talk…"
The rogues used some cloth to cover Talia's eyes, and she felt the tugging as they were pulling her arms above her head.
Talia knew she was trapped, but how can she give up?
If they take her away from here, who will save her? Actually, even if they don't take her away, who will save her if she doesn't fend for herself?
They want to use her as a token against Damon! Talia was terrified of that happening.
Damon did so much for her and even if she died right now, her only regret would be that she won't get to see him again.
She really missed his warmth, his scent, his intense gaze, his touch, and the feeling of safety and comfort that came with his proximity… but now was not the time to get lost in such thoughts because she was not dead yet, and as long as she had breath left in her lungs, she was determined to keep on fighting.
The guy who was straddling her lifted himself slightly, and in the next moment, Talia's leg jerked, and her knee got lodged in his family's jewels.
A suppressed groan was heard as the man fell on the side and the pressure on her wrists loosened. Talia quickly pulled her arms down to remove the blindfold.
As soon as the light flashed in front of her eyes, Talia gasped as one of the guys kicked her in the stomach.
"You need to behave", the man said and spat on the ground only an inch away from her face, and then Talia saw a blade of the knife coming close to her face. He sneered. "Let's see how a scar will remind you to listen. Wolfsbane will make it permanent…"
Talia forgot about the pain as her heart thundered in her chest violently. She was not afraid of the scar. However, the wolfsbane was another story because it's extremely poisonous to werewolves. Small doses are not deadly, but the pain is agonizing. For her who doesn't have her wolf, it will probably kill her quickly. But then… maybe that's for the best. If they poison her and she dies, they won't be able to use her against Damon.
Just as she thought that the blade will reach her face, a big black blur flashed in front of her eyes, taking the man with the knife with him and leaving behind the scent of the forest and the dark chocolate.
Talia jolted into a reality where three men stood petrified and looked at the majestic black wolf who bit off a chunk of the fourth man's neck.
The man was on his knees with his head bent backward at an unusual angle and the blood spurted from the gash on his neck like a fountain.
It was a gory sight.
Before anyone could react, the wolf was already pouncing at the second man who lifted his arm defensively, lodging his forearm into the wolf's jaws, to avoid critical injury. A moment later, the man screamed sorrowfully as his arm was ripped away from his body, but he still had the presence of mind to plunge a knife into the wolf's stomach.
By now, the other two men snapped to their senses and one of them had a knife, while the leader had a gun pointing at the wolf.
'BANG!'
The wolf whimpered as his body arched, but he didn't stand down. He turned to two guys, ready to attack with his jaws open to expose sharp fangs that were dripping with fresh blood from two rogues he attacked previously.
'BANG! BANG! BANG!'
The whole forest shook with reverberating gunshots and Talia couldn't believe that the black wolf was still going at the man.
Talia saw the wolf's unwavering ferocious icy-blue eyes and the world stopped as Talia realized that the black wolf is the same one she saw in her dreams... the reason why she picked Blackie at the fair… and the scent of the forest and the dark chocolate he left behind... Damon.
Damon came for her. He found her.
There was a knife in his stomach, the wound bled profusely, and the rogue was shooting at him.
As much as Damon's gaze was firm, Talia could see that Damon was in pain, as his movements became somewhat sluggish. Wolfsbane.
Will he die here? The thought was unimaginable.
Talia's body was set on fire that was somehow icy as it coursed through her veins.
"No… No… No…", Talia muttered under her breath while pushing herself to stand on her feet, and her honeyed eyes flickered with strands of silver.
As soon as her feet got a grasp on the ground, Talia moved as fast as lightning to stand between Damon and the two men.
"NO!", Talia roared and the faces of the two rogues changed into agonizing grimaces. Their bodies twisted with the sound of bones cracking, and they flew backward at an unimaginable speed. Two blurry forms swished through the bushes until they slammed into trees and fell down on the ground like ragdolls.
Talia inhaled once, twice, and she wanted to turn and see how Damon was doing. He was hurt. She needed to tend to his wounds… but her vision became spotty, and she fell on the ground as the darkness consumed her.
Talia's eyes fluttered open, and she found herself in an unknown place. There were machines beeping next to her and she tried to lift her head, only to feel a palm pressing on her forehead.
"You should stay put."
It was Maya.
"Where am I? What happened?", Talia asked and grimaced when her throat hurt from talking.
Maya handed her a glass of water.
"You are in the pack hospital. You were attacked, Alpha Damon came to help, by the time patrol arrived, four bad guys were dead and the two of you were unconscious. Let me call Doctor Travis to check on you."
Maya pushed the button that was on the remote attached to Talia's hospital bed.
Talia's breath hitched when she remembered the knives and gunshots. "Where is Damon?"
"He is in the room next door.", Maya said.
"I want to see him."
"Doctor should check you."
"I'm fine.", Talia said. "I want to see Damon."
The door opened and Doctor Travis came with one nurse behind him.
"Where do you think you are going?" Travis frowned when he saw Talia scooting out of the bed.
"To see Alpha Damon."
Travis could see her determination, but… "Let me first check your condition."
"I am fine. I want to see him." Talia's irritation was rising. Why was everyone telling her to wait?
Travis shook his head in disapproval. "I gave you painkillers and you are running on adrenalin. I need to…"
"I want to see him!", Talia shouted, and Travis took a step back, bumping into the nurse behind him, and then both the nurse and Travis lowered their heads.
Travis was surprised that Talia managed to suppress him like that, and he realized that it won't be good to anger her.
"Can you be reasonable?", Travis asked while wiping the sweat from his forehead. "You were unconscious for six hours. I need to check your condition. How would Alpha Damon feel if you run around recklessly and your condition worsens?"
Talia felt her fighting spirit deflating.
"Six hours?", Talia asked in a shaky voice.
Maya tilted her head, indicating to Doctor Travis to go ahead. "Make it quick."
"How is Alpha Damon doing?", Talia asked.
"You should worry about yourself.", Doctor Travis grumbled.
"What's wrong with me?"
"You suffered a blow in the head, one in the stomach, but the worst part is the damage done to the muscles in your legs."
Talia remembered the slap and the kick but… "My legs?"
Doctor Travis nodded. "They are nearly ripped like you put them under extraordinary strain." She shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it. I never saw anything like that. What happened?"
Talia pressed her lips into a line and there was a hazy image of her running to stand between Damon and the rogues and then rogues flew away like they were paper kites caught in the storm.
Talia knew how that was not normal. Another explanation would be that she imagined it. In either case, she decided to keep that for herself.
"I don't know. I remember that Alpha Damon came to rescue me, but then I fainted." Talia looked at Maya. "I'm sorry. I only wanted to go for a walk, but I ended up bumping into four…"
"Don't worry about it.", Maya interrupted Talia. "Rogues in our territory is nothing unusual. They knew our patrol schedule and routes. Caden issued an order to scramble their schedule. You were unfortunate to bump into them."
"They had knives..."
"Your blood pressure is fine.", Travis interrupted Talia.
Talia exhaled sharply as her anxiety rose. They didn't let her finish talking and no one told her what was bothering her the most.
"How is Alpha Damon doing?", Talia asked again.
"You will see in a minute.", Travis responded and turned to the nurse. "Get a wheelchair for Miss Talia."
When the nurse stepped out, Travis spoke to Talia in a hushed voice, "You should know that only a handful of us knows Alpha Damon's condition. If this information leaks, the whole pack will be in danger. You would also be kept in the dark, but Beta Caden and Maya vouched for you as trustworthy."
Talia got her answer why they were interrupting her whenever she tried talking about the incident.
In situations like these, even the walls have ears.
